Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Live Auction 1 25-26 Jul 2018
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Augustus Ӕ Medallion or Double Sestertius(?) of Hadrumetum, North Africa. Circa 7-5 BC. [...TVS TR POT XVII IM...], bare head right / [O C S] within wreath; two laurel branches around. RPC I 777 (Medallion, L. Volusius Saturninus, 7-6 BC); MAA 89 (Double Sestertius, Fabius Africanus, 6-5 BC); cf. M. Grant, From Imperium To Auctoritas, 1946, p. 139, 1. 48.96g, 40mm, 12h.
Fair/Poor. Extremely Rare; the third recorded example.
Despite being in a low state of preservation, this coin is identifiable (by the outline of the obverse portrait and fragmentary reverse details, but most of all due to its extraordinary weight) as belonging to a series of coins struck at Hadrumetum during the reign of Augustus, the heaviest known issue to have been struck within proconsular Africa.
The RPC catalogue suggests that the coin is medallic in nature, though the weight is that of a double sestertius, and that the reverse inscription 'Ob Cives Servatos' refers to the dedication which accompanied the clipeus virtutis (honorific shield) awarded to Augustus in 27 BC (see RPC I p. 197). Further to this, it has been suggested by Michael Grant that the medallion was struck to celebrate the second decennalia of Augustus' rule (Roman Anniversary Issues, 1950).
The MAA catalogue asserts that the issue represents a double sestertius and argues that the overpricing of the sestertius from single to double means that the sestertii minted within Africa were only equivalent to half of the Roman equivalent (see MAA, pp. 290-921).
The absence of a proconsular signature (not unusual for the sestertii struck in Africa) raises the question under which magistrate was this struck and thus, the dating of the issue. The RPC catalogue assigns the issue to 7-6 BC during the proconsulship of L. Volusius Saturninus, who is named on a series of dupondii (see RPC I 778), however notes that the die engraver of the issue is the same as that for a series of coins naming Fabius Africanus (see RPC I 779-781). It is for this reason that Alexandropoulos assigns the issue to 6-5 BC, when Fabius Africanus was in office (MAA 89-92).
Fair/Poor. Extremely Rare; the third recorded example.
Despite being in a low state of preservation, this coin is identifiable (by the outline of the obverse portrait and fragmentary reverse details, but most of all due to its extraordinary weight) as belonging to a series of coins struck at Hadrumetum during the reign of Augustus, the heaviest known issue to have been struck within proconsular Africa.
The RPC catalogue suggests that the coin is medallic in nature, though the weight is that of a double sestertius, and that the reverse inscription 'Ob Cives Servatos' refers to the dedication which accompanied the clipeus virtutis (honorific shield) awarded to Augustus in 27 BC (see RPC I p. 197). Further to this, it has been suggested by Michael Grant that the medallion was struck to celebrate the second decennalia of Augustus' rule (Roman Anniversary Issues, 1950).
The MAA catalogue asserts that the issue represents a double sestertius and argues that the overpricing of the sestertius from single to double means that the sestertii minted within Africa were only equivalent to half of the Roman equivalent (see MAA, pp. 290-921).
The absence of a proconsular signature (not unusual for the sestertii struck in Africa) raises the question under which magistrate was this struck and thus, the dating of the issue. The RPC catalogue assigns the issue to 7-6 BC during the proconsulship of L. Volusius Saturninus, who is named on a series of dupondii (see RPC I 778), however notes that the die engraver of the issue is the same as that for a series of coins naming Fabius Africanus (see RPC I 779-781). It is for this reason that Alexandropoulos assigns the issue to 6-5 BC, when Fabius Africanus was in office (MAA 89-92).